A glass foreign body in the knee joint mistaken for ACL avulsion: an unusual case

Foreign body in the knee is associated with trauma to knee or deliberate self harm. We see them often in clinical practice. They come in all forms and shapes. Very rarely one can find a foreign body within a joint without obvious external scarring (e.g. needle). We have not come across anywhere in the literature of a large foreign body in the knee joint without a definitive history of injury where the external scar has healed so well to become inconspicuous. With this background it is even more difficult when the X-rays mimic anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) avulsion. This case report highlights the fact that diagnosis of a foreign body in the knee joint can sometimes be challenging and almost impossible when there is no history of any injury and when the X-ray mimics ACL avulsion.